


day 1 - prompt #001

by MarkJinFicFest



Series: Forever and A Day - MarkJinFicFest [1]
Category: GOT7
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-14
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-12-29 21:20:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12093669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarkJinFicFest/pseuds/MarkJinFicFest
Summary: Prompt no.: #001Prompt: Broken JJP! Jinyoung JB are  ex lovers yet remained as close friends. They broke up for some reasons.Presently, Youngjae hates Jinyoung. Mark is jealous of JJP!Title: Kindred HeartsAuthor: malhaetjanhaPairing: Mark/Jinyoung, past Jaebum/Jinyoung, mentions of 2JaeRating: MWord count: 8k





	day 1 - prompt #001

It’s two-oh-nine in the morning when Mark looks up from his laptop and notes upon hearing the thundering pounds against his door. With the paper thin walls, Mark knows the whole dorm is still wide awake and the persistent knocks aren’t probably outside his door, but as he stares at his shaking snapbacks on the hood by the door, he realizes he should check on the intruder.

Jackson lives on a different dorm building, and Youngjae told Mark he’d spend the night with his boyfriend, so he doesn’t really expect anyone to be disturbing his peaceful sleepless night.

“Uhm—“

“Hi!” the guy squeals, barely keeping the bottles of soju in his arms. “I have something important to tell you,” he says continuously, forcing a few bottles on Mark’s grasp. “Listen. I have this weird theory that some people are drawn to each other because their atoms were near each other when the universe was created and over time the same atoms keep coming back together.” The man pants after his slurred tirade of theory, his smile surprisingly smug despite being so inebriated. “Isn’t that amazing?”

The whole time the other guy was speaking, Mark’s just plainly staring at him. There’s a mirthful spark in his eyes as he recites his theory, like he finds the whole thing amusing and wonderful. His lips open and close beautifully as well, the words slipping out of them graciously. He’s also nodding after every word, his sweaty hair bobbing in his head.

And, really, even though the other smell like he has an entire party in his clothes with how he reek of smoke and alcohol, he looks numbingly gorgeous that Mark doesn’t realize he’s nodding at him.

“Great! Let’s celebrate this beautiful discovery!” That’s all the warning he tells Mark before he’s barging inside his room and plopping on his bed, unexpectedly considerate of Mark’s things as he carefully shoved them to the farther side.

“Don’t you have to study for finals?” Mark asks as he looks for Jackson’s sneaked-in shot glasses, mentally chiding himself for allowing a stranger to order him around his own room.

“Exemption,” he says simply and shrugs, opening the bottle and chugging down the soju straight from it when Mark told him he can’t seem to find any glass. “What’s your major, by the way?”

“Math,” Mark informs him, taking the offered bottle and mimicking the other’s action unconsciously, almost downing half of the drink. “You?”

“Architecture,” the guy replies, removing his jacket and lifting his shirt just below his nipples.

Mark isn’t unaccustomed to guys going topless around him; having Jackson as his best friend, it’s almost as normal as breathing to see Jackson half-naked, and sometimes he just had to scar Mark with his bare body. But the guy’s torso is surprisingly toned, definitely from doing some rigorous activity often. He looks soft, though, and his shoulders aren’t too broad, but he’s just the perfect mix of soft and masculine.

“I’m Jinyoung,” Mark’s surprise guest says after opening their second bottle, nodding at Mark to do the same and introduce himself. He does, and Jinyoung smiles.

“Why didn’t you go back to your room, by the way?” Mark asks while he’s keeping his notes and things away from Jinyoung, arranging them on a messy pile on his desk table.

“Ah, my roommate’s almost-boyfriend is spending the night over,” he explains, tipping the lips of the bottle towards Mark, “they really engage in loud sex, and it’s disgusting.” Jinyoung laughs maniacally afterwards, almost spilling the soju on Mark’s clothes.

“You got kicked out of your own dorm so your roommate and his—“

“Fuck buddy!” Jinyoung interrupts, cutting Mark in mid-sentence. “Fuck buddy, yes, let’s use that. Okay, so I got kicked out of my own room so my roommate and his fuck buddy…?” he prods, nudging Mark to continue.

“So… they can have sex?”

“Exactly!”

“Why did you agree?”

“Hmm, let’s see.” Jinyoung sits properly on his knees and puts his hand on his chin, his eyes narrowing in faux concentration. Mark scoffs, because Jinyoung looks so flushed and drunk to be concentrated. “Well, I sort of annoy the kid more often than he could handle so sometimes… I act nice and offer to step out of our room so they could fuck.”

“Kid?” Mark frowns. “Your roommate is fucking a kid?”

Jinyoung’s hysterical laugh reverberates inside the room, and probably shakes his neighbors awake. “God, no. I mean, he looks so soft and tender like a kid! Like a ray of sunshine, yeah, like that.”

“Ah,” Mark deadpans.

“Seriously though, when I first saw the kid with my roommate, I never thought he’d be capable of creating lewd sounds, you know? The kid moans like a fucking diva pornstar, with all the high notes and screeches! Ugh, damn it.”

“How did you know?” he laughs, taking the soju from Jinyoung’s hand and downing the remaining in one go.

“Okay, so here’s how. One time I was out all night for a study group, and while I was trying to open my door, one of my neighbors held me back with this traumatized expression and told me to step away. I was stubborn, so I kept on asking him why, and then I heard it. The moans and the groans and I think I could even make out the sound of my roommate’s dick slamming inside the kid’s asshole.”

Mark enjoys listening to Jinyoung’s animated storytelling, so he nudges him to tell him more as he opens the third, fourth, fifth bottle of soju.

“Wait up,” Mark interrupts Jinyoung’s tale of how he ended up reading his roommate’s sexts to his fuck buddy when a thought occurred to him. “Why would they sext when he could just pay him a visit?”

“Ah, simple,” Jinyoung starts, patting Mark on his thigh. “The kid hates me.”

“I wonder why,” Mark tells him sarcastically which gains him a hit on the chest. At this point, all of Mark’s lecture notes are long forgotten, and he’s just playing leg fight with Jinyoung on his bed, the bottles of soju rolling under his bed.

“Shut up, I’m nice.” Jinyoung rolls his eyes at Mark, and he chugs down half of the soju on the bottle before he explains, “My roommate refuses to leave our dorm room, and the kid thinks I’m brainwashing him into staying with me.”

“Why wouldn’t he leave, though? It’s definitely easier to have sex if they’re sharing one room.”

“’Because we’re best friends! And besides, he doesn’t want anyone to order him around. Though in my opinion, he’s too smitten with this kid and he’s going to give in soon enough.”

“Or you can move out, since, you know, you’re kind,” Mark reminds him, slapping Jinyoung’s hand because he keeps on pulling the sheets.

“Even if I do, the kid won’t want to stay in that room.” Mark narrows his eyes at Jinyoung, and the latter explains, “Because he will always be reminded of how my roommate and I had rounds of sex on every part of that room.”

“So you were once his fuck buddy, too?”

“I liked it better when you spoke less.” Jinyoung pouts, but replies, “We weren’t just fuck buddies, you see. We were boyfriends. Like, his parents and my parents knew about us. Yes, we were that couple.”

“But you said he’s your best friend?”

“He is.”

“…How?”

“We’ve been best friends before we even knew how to talk, and our relationship went on like that for years. I’d have friends, and he would, too, but at the end of the day, we just preferred each other’s companies. And then we reached our teenage years, and explored our sexualities together. We had girlfriends, but knew we both didn’t like it. So together, we did everything. From handjobs to blowjobs to—“

“Okay, I get it,” Mark stops him with a hand on his mouth, and he can feel Jinyoung vibrate with laughter. “So you loved him?”

“I did,” Jinyoung nods. “I still do, really. But it’s a different love, you know? Not the one that couples must have. More like, familial, I think.”

“Having sex with your family doesn’t sound really nice, Jinyoung.”

“Where’s that guy I met from two hours ago? I liked talking to that man of few words better.”  
Mark smirks at him, before he asks curiously, “You’ve had sex… on every part… of your dorm room?”

“Yes, why? You want us to give it a try?” Mark kicks him on the stomach, and Jinyoung dodges him with a loud laugh.

“Isn’t that unhygienic?”

“What, do you want us to rent hotel rooms just so my best friend could bend me over the marble sink and fuck me into next year?”

“I didn’t say that!” Mark screams, warmth spreading on his face. “So you had sex on the sink on the bathroom?”

“Yes.” Mark thinks for a moment, and wonders how they were able to maneuver themselves in position on the little space. Each room in the building is built the same: two beds, shared closets on one side, two desk tables on the other, and one bathroom with only a shower curtain separating the toilet bowl from the shower area. “Small space, I know, but I’m flexible.”

“I didn’t need to know,” Mark huffs, ignoring Jinyoung’s grin before he says, “And I’m guessing you did it on the shower, too?”

“In all walls of the shower area, yes.”

“By the door?”

“Yup. I remember bruising my hip when I hit the doorknob by accident.”

“By the closet?”

“Yes, and I advice you not to do it because we almost broke the closet when it toppled down.”

“The… study table?”

Jinyoung laughs, a secret joke wrinkling his eyes beautifully. “My best friend had to buy a new laptop when I shoved it too hardly off his desk and we spilled the printer ink on it.”

“Please, don’t tell me you did it on the floor.”

“We’re drunk! And we’re both horny from a frat party so we… didn’t make it to the bed.”

“You kept at least the window unscarred, didn’t you?”

There’s a salacious smile on Jinyoung’s lips as he stares at Mark, his eyes automatically looking at the window between the two beds in the room. “It took us a week before the come got cleaned off the window because neither of us wanted to clean it.”

“Jesus Christ,” Mark heaves out, head going dizzy.

Jinyoung chuckles. “That’s what he used to say too whenever we’d had rounds of sex ‘til noon.”

 

\--

 

As it turns out, Mark apparently knows a lot about Jinyoung, though he didn’t know until then that the guy Youngjae, Mark’s roommate, was loathing all the past months with what little hatred his kind heart could harbor, is Jinyoung.

It’s still a hunch though, his mind still half-inebriated to think and conclude things properly, but with the way Youngjae’s face turns from soft upon seeing him, to confused that he’s in Jaebum’s room carrying someone at seven in the morning on a Thursday, to sour after realizing that the man his roommate is carrying princess style is the ex-boyfriend, it feels like an implied thing already.  
So, by now, Mark can name all the nameless people that his roommate and his drunken surprise guest talked about.

Youngjae told Mark about Jaebum, and also about Jaebum’s ex who is still his roommate up to date. Mark realizes that Jinyoung is the enemy—the guy in Youngjae’s stories.

And Jinyoung told Mark all about his roommate, who turns out to be Jaebum, and his roommate’s fuck buddy, who turns out to be Youngjae. At the conclusion, Mark actually feels guilty for riding along with Jinyoung and calling Youngjae, even unconsciously, someone’s fuck buddy.

“This is room 524, right?” Mark whispers with the lack of anything to say, and the two underdressed guys nod dumbly at him. He’s a little grateful that Jinyoung is asleep on his arms so he won’t be able to comment on how Jaebum seems to be wearing Youngjae’s shorts and how Youngjae’s shirt is turned inside out.

“I’ll just… put him down… and leave,” Mark adds when none of the two speaks, and once Jinyoung is clutching at his own blankets, he turns to nod at the two before locking the door behind him.  
Mark doesn’t miss the loud huff of relief before he completely shuts the door, and he softly chuckles at the sight of Youngjae’s uncharacteristically sour face as he stares at Jinyoung’s sleeping form, his grip on Jaebum tightening.

 

\--

 

If Mark thought he could sleep for at least a few hours before his one pm exam, he thought wrong. Because before he can even reach his room, Jackson is already outside waiting, glaring at him as he holds out Jinyoung’s jacket.

“Why do you have Park Jinyoung’s club jacket in your room?”

Mark frowns, eyes the jacket on Jackson’s hold, before he nods slowly in late realization.

Ah, he thinks as Jackson repeatedly asks him why the hell is Park Jinyoung’s Theater Club jacket on his dorm room floor, that’s why he looked familiar.

Jackson is still holding onto Jinyoung dark blue club jacket, the word ACTOR embroidered at the back, and his name on an elegant cursive font on the left breast.

Now, Mark remembers seeing Jinyoung in the university in passing.

Jinyoung owns that gorgeous face on the posters tacked on the bulletin boards during his sophomore year, inviting people to watch for the musical where he starred in. They had four shows of it, all tickets sold out, and then he heard the lead actor went inactive on theater to focus on his sport after the success of the musical.

And that’s where Jinyoung is famous now; he’s #9 on the football field, his kicks and speed rivaling that of Ronaldo’s, and his fans from theater occupying bleachers after bleachers to cheer for him.

On a more normal note, Jinyoung is also that guy who’s always buried in between hardbound pages, sometimes sneaking romance paperbacks in between his textbooks. He’s also that guy who explicitly flirts with the hot student assistant (who Mark realizes is Jaebum, after all he only visits the library to sleep and he doesn’t pay much attention to the people around him), his giggles soft but distracting in the silence.

Mark also remembers seeing his face on the university newspaper, words of appraisal for his outstanding excellence in his chosen fields coming in lengthy articles. And, if Mark remembers it correctly, Jinyoung’s face was also on the School of Architecture’s newsletter, a pioneer organization’s performance reaching its peak under Jinyoung’s administration.

So we could’ve met in a lot of different circumstances, Mark thinks blindly, but we met after he crashed a party and looked for a place to crash for the night. He doesn’t even know why of all rooms, Jinyoung ended up on his room, but the memory of the drunken guy inviting himself in his room makes him smile despite the headache.

Sighing dramatically in despair at Mark’s disregard for his presence, Jackson dismisses his annoying inquiry and instead goes for, “So, what do you think of Jinyoung, huh?”

What does Mark think of Jinyoung? Hm. He’s beyond beautiful, that’s for sure. Despite being miles away from the state of sobriety, Jinyoung is witty and sassy, if not outright savage. His voice is mellifluous, too, though a little loud at so early in the morning. And he’s fun to talk to, as well, even though he slips crass comments in between his stories.

Mark doesn’t know how specific Jackson wants him to be, so he settles with, “He’s… passable.”

Jackson, Mark just finds out now, seemingly has a huge crush on the guy, because he freaks out so wildly that his high-pitched scream almost deafens Mark. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN PASSABLE???” Jackson sounds like he’s utterly offended of Mark’s response. “Jinyoung is like, the standard! Haven’t you seen his jaw? And his nose and his cheekbones and man, those eyes!”

It feels like Mark understated Jackson’s hidden feelings because, as it seems, Mark’s best friend is obsessed.

“Woah, okay, slow down. You don’t have to worship him that much.”

Again, Jackson’s tone goes sky-high. This time, he stands on Mark’s bed to tower over him as he declares, “How can I not? Jinyoung is like the definition of a god.”

That one sounds disgustingly ridiculous, but not exactly a lie, either.

 

\--

 

Mark could’ve met Jinyoung in the span of three months on different occasions. (Disregarding the fact that Mark could just pay him a visit on his room on the fifth floor, because Mark was too adamant on denying that he is attracted to Jinyoung.)

One, on that huge semester ender party of a popular frat. Mark went on the party with Jackson while Youngjae went with Jaebum. Later in the evening, he found out that Jinyoung was already in Busan for a week-long vacation.

Two, on the summer seminar for senior students. It’s bad enough to sit down on lectures that go on for hours; Mark wouldn’t torment himself sitting down on a seminar that would talk about what’s ahead of them post graduation.

Three, on that one-act plays of the Theater Club that went on for a week of summer classes. Mark really didn’t want to know, but Jaebum told him that Jinyoung sort of participated on the event—not as an actor, but a scriptwriter. Mark would like to go, but he’s stuck in Japan with his family.

And fourth, on the exhibition football game between their school and their archenemy from the eastern district. It was Jackson who relayed the invitation to him, telling Mark how Jinyoung showed up one day on his best friend’s dorm and gave him tickets. He had to turn down, because he wouldn’t be coming back from LA until the following week, and Jackson said he just missed the best game of his life. (Maybe it’s Jackson’s prejudice speaking, but the game really sounded promising and Mark kind of regretted not booking an earlier flight.)

However, as it seems, Mark and Jinyoung shouldn’t meet unless it’s inconvenient for one of them. So it doesn’t really come off as a surprise when, like a déjà vu, Mark hears the familiar thundering pounds against his door. At first he opted to ignore the noise, but when his neighbors start yelling his name through the paper thin walls, he stands up and opens it.  
Really. It’s the most anticlimactic thing to happen to Mark on the night before the first day of classes.

“Ah—“

“Oh my god, hyung, you bleached your hair!” Jinyoung squeals as he runs his fingers through Mark’s hair, taking him by surprise. Jinyoung has his satchel bag around his shoulders and a luggage bag beside him, but all seems to be forgotten as he brushes Mark’s hair in concentration, his eyes fixated on Mark’s blond locks.

“How was it?” Jackson said he liked it, and Youngjae said it really suited Mark. But somehow, he also wanted to hear from Jinyoung.

“You looked so good!” he replies, before inviting himself inside yet again, leaving Mark to carry his luggage.

“Did you come here straight from home?” Mark asks, offering Jinyoung a bag of chips as the latter settles comfortably on his bed.

“Yes,” he says after thanking Mark for the chips. “Hey, hyung—“

“Why are you calling me hyung?”

“Because you’re older?”

“How so?”

“You were born twelve months and eighteen days before me,” Jinyoung tells him matter-of-factly. “Anyway, as I was saying before you rudely interrupted me, remember the theory I told you when we first met? The one with atoms and stuff.”

“What’s with it?”

“I realized it’s weird.”

“You said it was amazing.”

“It was. But it’s really weird.”

“…And why do we have to discuss it on the night before classes start?”

“Shh, just listen!” Jinyoung says, toppling Mark over as he covers his lips with both his hands. And then, keeping his position on top of Mark and his socked feet scratching Mark’s legs, he says, “You know, the atomic soulmates sounded so amazing because they’re meant for each other, built for each other. Like puzzle pieces, you see? Like you can’t just put two pieces together.”

“But…?” Mark prods, bumping his forehead against Jinyoung’s. For two people who have only met on literally two instances, they’re surprisingly comfortable with each other.

“But what if you got the wrong piece? The wrong atom? If you’re an electron, how would you know if you got attracted to the right proton? Or if you’re a puzzle piece, how would you know that that’s the piece meant to be stuck to you? If I buy two sets of the same puzzle, surely I’d find the exact same pieces? How would people know that I mixed up and—“

“Okay, Confucius, calm down,” Mark says, rolling them over until Jinyoung’s on his back and he’s resting his body weight on his forearms. “Seriously, you don’t have to worry about this.”

“Soulmates are weird.”

“Soulmates are weird,” Mark repeats, smiling down at Jinyoung.

“But I love the idea of soulmates,” Jinyoung pouts, and Mark’s arms buckle at his sudden outburst.

“I hate the concept,” Mark comments, rolling on his side and covering himself with his blanket. He feels Jinyoung punch his back softly, his voice becoming softer and more of a whisper as he asks him why. “Because it feels like the world is telling me who to love, and I don’t want that.”

“Why?” Jinyoung drawls, and Mark feels his fist clutch at the back of his shirt.

“Because I want to choose the person I will spend the rest of my life with.”

 

\--

 

“I’m sorry, but I refuse to be friends with you.” There’s a pregnant pause as everyone around the table takes in Jinyoung’s words for Mark, but he and Jaebum are unfazed and they continue eating their food.

It’s been two weeks since Mark last saw Jinyoung, it’s the first time they gather around like this – with Jackson and Youngjae and Jaebum and Jinyoung’s two slaves (favorite dongsaengs) Bambam and Yugyeom – and the latter is throwing a fit because he was uninvited on Mark’s birthday.

“I told you, I didn’t even celebrate,” Mark tells him patiently, picking up a sushi and offering it to Jinyoung, instead. “I just post-celebrate on Youngjae’s birthday, so stop sulking and just eat because I paid for half of these.”

“You didn’t invite me on your birthday – hell, you didn’t even tell me your birthday! Oh, right, because you don’t text me, and you don’t even request to follow me on social media and—oh my god, I can’t believe this.” Mark is just watching Jinyoung rant with amused eyes, and so is Jackson who looks like he’s assessing his choice of crush.

“Don’t mind him, he’s always like that,” Bambam interjects, smiling bubbly at Mark.

“Petty and sulky,” Yugyeom agrees, before Jaebum laughs ungracefully loudly, much to Jinyoung’s chagrin.

It’s weird how everyone just clicked like that (except Youngjae and Jinyoung, but it’s already a given), like they’re just long lost friends who suddenly found each other and are now vowing never to leave each other’s side.

And it’s still bugging Mark how it took so long for him and Jinyoung to meet when everyone seems to know each other already. He asks Jinyoung this on their way back to their dorm, and the younger only laughs at him.  
“I don’t even think we’re meant to meet,” Jinyoung says, a smile playing on the corner of his lips. “That night, I was supposed to get laid with a post-grad guy, but I threw up on his crotch so he left. If only I rushed to the toilet, I would’ve been fucked so good.”

“Sounds like something you’d do.”

“Shut up, you even touched my vomit too, remember?”

Mark remembers vividly how Jinyoung threw up on him while they’re rushing to the toilet bowl, and how he struggled cleaning Jinyoung up above anything else. “I feel nauseous just thinking about it.”

“And also,” Jinyoung murmurs, halting Mark’s steps, “I wasn’t the one who knocked on your door the first time. I was leaning against it, yes, but your neighbor thought I looked so pitiful so he knocked and I just – I faced you.”

“Oh. But, uhm… why were you outside my door?”

“You’re on Room 909, right?” Mark nods in response, and Jinyoung’s next statement is almost inaudible against the noise of Youngjae’s scandalous laugh. “Nine’s my favorite number… and yours is the nearest from the elevator. So… yeah.”

Jaebum, who’s holding Youngjae’s hand tightly, seems to have heard their exchange because he tells Jinyoung pointedly, “I think it’s destiny.”

“Eww, shut up,” Jinyoung snaps back, pushing Jaebum away and Mark doesn’t miss the scowl on Youngjae’s face at the roughness. “We, the people who don’t believe in soulmates and destiny,” Jinyoung says, nudging Mark’s shoulder with his own.

“But I do believe in thieves, though,” Mark teases, and Jinyoung rolls his eyes at him so hard he almost misses the lamppost ahead of him. Mark laughs at him, and Jinyoung leaves his side to head inside their building, stomping his foot against the ground childishly.

“Thieves, huh,” Jaebum murmurs from Mark’s side, and he only smiles mysteriously at him.

Because like a thief, Jinyoung took his entrance and broke in his dorm room. And like a thief, Jinyoung took something precious from Mark that he doesn’t know if he still wants back.

 

\--

 

Before Mark even came to the realization that he likes Jinyoung, it’s already an established fact that Jaebum is a huge part of Jinyoung’s life, and no matter what happens, he shouldn’t be jealous of what they had, and what they still have.

But there are times when he would take a step back, because even though Jaebum isn’t exactly a competition, he’s a rather intimidating obstacle.

Whenever he and Jinyoung exchange messages, the younger would sometimes tell him tales about Jaebum—how Jaebum cried because he had to stop sneaking Nora in the dorms because Youngjae is allergic to her, how he’s always Jaebum’s food critic though he knows close to nothing about food, and how Jaebum would hit him on the head because he keeps on flirting during work hours. Mark has always found Jinyoung’s storytelling amusing, his animated hand gestures in person and his comic emojis on mobile lifting up the corners of Mark’s mouth.

But then there are times when he doesn’t seem like he can handle the heat, almost running away from Jinyoung because Jaebum’s spot is too hard to fill. Mark almost lost it on the day Jinyoung’s and Jaebum’s parents visited, unknowing of the fact that Mark is harboring an overwhelming feeling in his chest of their Jinyoungie.

“Ah, Jinyoung-ah, you’re still as pretty as ever,” Mrs. Im tells him, hugging Jinyoung who stood up from where’s he’s watching a movie on his laptop with Mark. “I hope our Jaebummie finds someone like you.”

“Mom, he can’t even cook,” Jaebum teases, and Jinyoung’s parents look at him so fondly that Mark has to excuse himself because he feels like an outsider.

While his feet take him outside the building and away from people, Mark is thankful that Youngjae isn’t there to witness everything.

Jinyoung tries reaching out for him the following hour and on the following days, but he only gets radio silence from Mark’s side.

 

\--

 

It’s silent for a long while, until one weekend afternoon when Mark’s about to take an out-of-town overnight drive and Jackson comes barging inside their room.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he yells at Mark, and Youngjae doesn’t even flinch like he already knows where this is going. Jackson pulls Mark’s towel from a chair and shoves him towards the bathroom, yelling as he does, “Jinyoung asked me to make sure you’d go, and he threatened to have his team castrate me if you don’t.”

Long story short, Mark is forced to cancel his weekend getaway to watch an official football game against their archenemy, not even having a say about anything as Jackson used his force against his protests. Youngjae comes too, and it’s the only consolation Mark offers himself as they drive to the venue.

And being at the field is like putting everything Mark hates in one place. It’s too hot for an autumn afternoon, there are too many people for his liking, and the place is too noisy that Mark wants to walk out on everyone.

But Jackson’s fear of being castrated is larger than his loyalty with Mark, because he won’t let go of his hold on his arm until everyone starts settling down and both teams end their warm-ups.

Mark’s eyes scan the field for a certain someone with squad number 9, but he regrets doing so because he sees Jinyoung talking closely to Jaebum, the two of them laughing as Jaebum gives Jinyoung a hug before finding a seat. As if feeling Mark’s intense stare on him, Jinyoung turns his head until their eyes meet, but Mark immediately looks away to find Youngjae’s eyes, and he’s sure the younger saw the exchange too because he looks like he’s about to cry.

And then there are screaming. Girls squealing like laboring whales. Mark doesn’t care; he just wants to get out of the place. But as he stands up to take Youngjae’s hand so they can leave together, Jackson is stopping him and manhandling him until he faces Jinyoung who’s looking up at him with tightened jaw, unmindful of all the attention he’s getting from the crowd.

“Leaving?”

Mark doesn’t know what Jinyoung wants from him, but he doesn’t answer. He doesn’t deny nor admit, until Jinyoung is sighing in defeat and handing him something. A cloth. Mark opens it up in confusion. Oh, Mark looks at Jinyoung, his uniform.

In his hands is the same uniform that Jinyoung’s holding, and it’s his turn to sport a confused expression. Park, the surname at the back reads, and then a huge number 9 below it.

“It was my first uniform, but it’s a size smaller now so I – just, wear it? Please? For now?”

Mark nods, and it’s only then that Jinyoung manages a small smile before running to where his team is.

 

\--

 

Mark doesn’t even know how he ended up in the victory party of the football team at their coach’s house, but there he was, leaning against the balcony on the second floor and holding onto a glass of warming liquor, his eyes watching the moon’s reflection on his drink.

“Have you seen Youngjae?” a voice asks, and he doesn’t even need to turn his head to recognize Jaebum.

“He didn’t come,” he replies simply, tilting the drink until the liquid’s on the edge of spilling.

“He’s still not talking to me,” Jaebum slurs, and Mark can’t even make out the emotions beneath the other’s stoic face. “And you’re still ignoring Jinyoung.”

It’s like Jinyoung’s name from Jaebum’s lips is a trigger that switched on Mark’s anger, or maybe he’s just feeling too suffocated and he wants to snap at someone, so he says, “Youngjae’s questioning his worth in your life.”

“That’s ridiculous,” the guy yells, and the people nearby look at them with suspicious eyes, though Jaebum doesn’t seem like he minds. “I love Youngjae, for fuck’s sake. I even asked him to come with me on my dad’s birthday.”

“I’m glad he refused,” Mark comments, and in seconds, Jaebum is holding him by the neck of Jinyoung’s uniform (why is he still wearing Jinyoung’s uniform?), their faces mere inches from each other. “I don’t think he can handle the pain of being compared to Jinyoung.”

Jaebum’s eyes widen for a moment, before he looks solemn and he lets go of Mark, panting apologies under his breath. “You were there.”

Mark can still remember the pang in his chest when Jinyoung’s parents looked so approving of Jaebum—like Jaebum is the only guy worthy of Jinyoung. “I was.”

The two of them share a lengthy silence for a while, them being the only people who don’t participate in the noise, until Jaebum heaves out a long sigh, and Mark turns to look at him only to see the younger’s face cradled in his palms, his elbows on the railing. “Listen, Mark-hyung. I know you’re probably mad at me and maybe you don’t want to talk to me, but you have to know that Jinyoung and I… we’re a part of each other.”

“I know,” Mark breathes out, but Jaebum shakes his head profusely.

“No, you don’t. You don’t know, because if you do, you wouldn’t be ignoring Jinyoung especially when you  
know he’s head over heels in love with you.”

“He—“ Mark stutters at the nonchalant way Jaebum said it, before he makes out the words, “He isn’t.”

“Oh, for god’s sake,” Jaebum huffs, “he made you wear his uniform in a field where most guys from his team stares at you with obvious want, and fuck you for being so oblivious, but that’s my best friend marking his territory.”

Mark gulps thickly, the glass in his hold trembling visibly, and Jaebum actually laughs.

“That shit is fucking possessive, and I know he hasn’t told you yet because he’s too busy bothering you with his theories about soulmates, but he loves you. So much. So I hope you talk to him soon,” Jaebum tells him, smiling softly despite his inebriation. “And I hope you stop thinking of me as a rival, because I’m not.

“Hyung, let me tell you something. Jinyoung and I, we’ve been together for so long that I know him like the back of my hands, and not seeing him for a day feels like missing a limb. We’re each other’s firsts too—I’m his first boyfriend, his first love, his first date, and I’m the first person he planned to have a family with. Two kids, three cats, a big house and a bigger library. We’d already planned our future, but you’re still to meet him yet.

“I’m the first person he introduced to his family as his boyfriend, and I’m the first person he explored his body with. Jinyoung is a part of my family as much as I am of his, and he’s the first guy my mom loved for me.

“And our knowledge of each other is the same as our knowledge of ourselves, and as much as it would probably hurt you, you will never be me, Mark-hyung.”

Mark doesn’t speak because he doesn’t know how to articulate the pain clenching at his heart, and because he doesn’t want Jaebum to hear his voice crack, though his glassy eyes are probably giveaways enough of how fast the storm is building up in his heart.

“But hyung, as much as you won’t be me, I’ll never be you, too. No matter what you, and Youngjae, and other people may think, Jinyoung will never love me as much as he loves you. I know everything about him, but you know things about his heart and his mind that I’ll never, ever know about. Not because he won’t tell me, but because I’ll never feel them. Only you, Mark-hyung, will know how his eyes will spark up whenever he sees you, and only you will know how fast his heart beats whenever you touch him.

“Don’t compare yourself to me, hyung, because I was only his lover in the past. We’ll never stop being friends, and please don’t make him choose because he’ll definitely choose you and I’d be sad not to have someone to annoy with my farts, but please do know that even though he’s complicated and his theories are sometimes bullshit, you will always be the person he’d want to wake up to. And he’s clingy, mind you, so don’t get jealous when he hugs me or anyone because he’ll never hug us the way he’d hug you.”

“I don’t even know what to say,” Mark admits when five minutes passes and Jaebum is still not talking, apparently already done of his speech.

“You don’t have to say anything,” Jaebum hiccups, and then he’s patting Mark’s back before he walks away, saying something about sobering up and talking to Youngjae.

Mark doesn’t even talk to Jaebum much because the latter is always too busy attaching himself to Youngjae, and sometimes Jackson is speaking too rapidly that Mark’s soft voice couldn’t interrupt him, so it surprised him that Jaebum talked to him so easily like that, not even batting an eyelash at everything he said, like the words were already carefully calculated in his head, practiced to help Mark sooth the turmoil in his mind.

It’s hard not to compare himself to Jaebum, especially when Jaebum and Jinyoung looks so perfect together, their bodies fitting down to the littlest curves and even their breathing seem to sync.

But then Mark gets reminded of Jinyoung’s theories that make him smile so hard that his cheeks hurt, and the younger’s feelings that are too overwhelming that he feels everything through Jinyoung’s fingertips when he brushes the hair out of his eyes and lean down to meet their foreheads.

And then he figures, he doesn’t need to be the perfect guy for Jinyoung; he just needs to be himself, the guy who listens to Jinyoung’s soulmate theories and wash him up when he throws up and lull him to sleep, and maybe that’s all Jinyoung wants.

 

\--

 

“You alone?”

It’s past eleven and Mark is supposed to be looking for Jackson but his best friend was gone missing so he went back to the makeshift bar by the pool, watching the ice in his drink melt under his gaze when a familiar voice whispers lowly in his ears. If Mark has cat ears, they’d be twitching now.

“Alone and available,” he replies, and even without looking back, Mark can feel Jinyoung’s smirk through his chuckle.

“Judging from the uniform, I thought you’re someone from the team’s boyfriend,” he says, leaning on his side by the table. From his peripheral, Mark sees Jinyoung pull out a lollipop from his lips, licking his bottom one while watching Mark with scrutinizing eyes. He suddenly feels conscious in his ripped shorts and – well, the younger’s uniform.

“Well, someone’s best friend gave in a few good words but I don’t know, I don’t think the guy’s interested enough.”

Jinyoung is sipping on his drink when Mark speaks, and he almost laughs when the younger chokes on his drink, coughing intensely beside him. “Fuck, my shirt.”

“You can borrow mine,” Mark offers nonchalantly, but Jinyoung’s eyes turn predatory at the suggestion. He puts his drink down, lifts the hem of Jinyoung’s uniform up, and removes it over his head, leaving him on his own shirt underneath.

“Too many layers,” Jinyoung murmurs which Mark ignores.

“Are you sober enough to change on your own, or should I?”

Jinyoung lifts an eyebrow up, sucks at his lollipop, before he says after removing the candy from his mouth, “I can do it. Just hold my lollipop for me.”

Mark obliges, and Jinyoung doesn’t even mind the eyes apart from Mark’s watching him undress himself, ridding his upper half of his ruined shirt and wiping his sweat with it. Jinyoung is looking intently at Mark, testing his reaction, but he only shrugs and puts the lollipop in his mouth, much to Jinyoung’s surprise.

“I don’t like sharing my food,” Jinyoung growls after his stunt.

Mark can still feel all eyes on them (mostly on Jinyoung, but they’re too close by now that it’s hard to look at Jinyoung without seeing Mark), but he can’t help flirting with the younger. “Then take it back.”

There are a few people who hoot at his retort, but he can’t seem to see everyone but Jinyoung’s dark eyes on him, before his face crowds his view and in a heartbeat, Jinyoung is kissing him full on the mouth.

Flirting with Jinyoung is one thing, but the kiss they’re sharing is far from a flirty kiss.

Jinyoung’s hands automatically hold Mark’s jaw, his thumb ironically tender as they caress his cheeks. Mark holds Jinyoung by the waist, feeling him closer, hugging him tighter. They don’t grind, don’t thrust up against each other, don’t cant their hips up, but Mark feels the contact burning him from the outside out. Jinyoung’s tongue is insistent as he pushes it inside Mark’s mouth, his lips taking all the flavor off it until Mark can’t taste the lollipop anymore but the liquor that Jinyoung drank, and Mark thinks he got drunk more from the taste from Jinyoung’s tongue than from the drinks he had from Jackson.

“You said you’re available, didn’t you?” Jinyoung pants against Mark’s lips when he pulls away, his whole face up to the tips of his ears flushed pink.

“I did, but I didn’t say I was planning to get laid,” Mark huffs, pulling Jinyoung closer by the belt loops of his pants.

“Is it too late to change plans?” the younger asks, his fingers poking at the spaces between the rips on Mark’s shorts.  
“It isn’t.”

 

\--

 

It’s just a few breathing moments since Mark came, Jinyoung’s legs still hooked on Mark’s shoulders and his hands still wrapped around Mark’s lithe body, the younger’s come drying on their stomachs when Jinyoung pants the familiar words that always makes Mark smile.

“You don’t believe in soulmates, right?”

“I don’t, that’s right.”

“So more than calling us soulmates, I think we’re rather coinciding lines.”

“Coinciding lines, huh?” Mark hums, feeling the vibrations of Jinyoung’s laughter through their nakedness.

“Tell me more.”

“You’re just pretending to be interested,” Jinyoung pouts, and he’s about to roll on his side when he groans gutturally, realizing late that Mark is still inside him. In retribution, Jinyoung clenches, and Mark moans defenselessly.

“I’m not – oh god, stop clenching – just pretending.”

“Fine,” the younger huffs with a wicked smile on his face, and then he’s rolling them over until Jinyoung is on top of Mark, his hands brushing Mark’s matted bangs from his eyes. “So, we’re coinciding lines because we’re a perfect fit. Simple as that.”

“But coinciding lines have the same properties, and we’re far from being the same,” Mark comments, throwing his head back with a groan when Jinyoung experimentally lifts himself up from Mark’s dick, his hands automatically holding out to his boyfriend for support.

“Don’t ruin it,” Jinyoung says, screaming a sharp ah! when he sinks back down on Mark, his chest heaving deeply as he pants.

“And you said we’re not supposed to meet,” Mark reminds him, holding Jinyoung still by his waist but the younger is too adamant in moving, so instead he slides up his hands and plays with Jinyoung’s nipple.

“Oh god,” Jinyoung moans, leaning into Mark’s touch, and he rolls his eyes at Mark for pinching too hard before he continues, “Yeah, well, you know, we’re originally supposed to be parallel, but the nice mathematician from above decided to take pity and – oh god!” Mark plants his feet on the bed and thrusts his hips up, catching Jinyoung off guard, before prodding the younger male to continue his theory. “—and, fuck I forgot where was I.”

“The nice mathematician—“

“Right! This nice person took pity on us and realized we’re too good to be alone and available so he made us coinciding lines.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Mark says, confused.

“It’s hard to make sense when you just fucked me into next year and still fucking me into the next century.”

“I’m glad I can make your brain go haywire,” Mark smiles, continuously slamming into Jinyoung and just barely touching his prostate.

“Shut the fuck up,” the younger sasses, before he leans backward and holds onto Mark’s thighs. The new angle makes it harder for Mark to thrust up, but one abrupt sink on his dick and Jinyoung screams Mark’s name loudly, and he can’t even bring himself to care about what his neighbors would say about the noise the next morning.

Jinyoung continues bouncing up and down Mark’s dick, his breath uneven as he struggles to breathe properly when the air out of him gets pushed out on every thrust. Mark asks Jinyoung to turn around, and the sight of Jinyoung’s jiggling butt pushes Mark to the edge, and Jinyoung comes a beat later at the feel of Mark’s come inside him, the elder’s hands fondling the soft flesh of his ass.

Mark only pulls Jinyoung towards his chest, the two of them trying to even out their breaths after rounds of sex. Both of them are just staring at the ceiling, though as Mark caresses Jinyoung’s stomach and relaxing his tense torso, Jinyoung starts whispering softly against the dark room.

“I’m glad we weren’t asymptotic lines, though. That’s just the saddest.”

“How so?”

“Because you and I would only come closer and closer and closeeeeer, but we would never have met, if we’re asymptotic lines.”

“That’s sad,” Mark agrees, “but don’t you think intersecting lines are the saddest?”

“Because they only meet once?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, at least that’s one memory that you can hold onto. Unlike the asymptotic lines that will just… never meet.”

“In that case, I’m glad we’re coinciding lines.”

“Yeah, me too.” Silence, and then, “Ah, hyung?”

“Hm?”

“Don’t compare yourself to Jaebum ever again, please.”

“I’ll try, Jinyoung-ah.”

“Please do. Because I don’t want to be your unhappiness.” Mark feels Jinyoung’s heart beat atop him, his body unexpectedly calm despite the thumping in his chest. “You are a gift, you’re my present. I don’t pray for a lot of things, but ever since I bothered your silence that early morning, I always pray that you remain in my life.”

“Jinyoung-ah.”

“I would do anything to keep you in my life.”

“And I’d do anything to make you happy every day of our lives.”

**Author's Note:**

> "Thank you to the whole MarkJin Fic Fest team who moderated Forever and a Day! Thank you for dealing with my endless questions and basically for being awesome human beings for creating the fic fest! <3 To the person who sent the prompt, I’m sorry for the lack of other side pairing, and I hope the whole fic doesn’t disappoint, especially the smut part which doesn’t seem too smutty at all. LOL Love you!"


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